Africa-Press – Gambia. A secretly recorded audio message circulating widely on social media has offered an unusual glimpse into the fissures and anxieties that linger among former members of the Junglers, the paramilitary unit that operated under ex-President Yahya Jammeh. In the recording, Sanna Manjang—once regarded as one of the group’s most formidable operatives and now in state custody—recounts his escape from The Gambia, alleged betrayals by former allies, and a deteriorating relationship with key figures in Jammeh’s security apparatus.
Manjang says he fled first to Guinea-Bissau, where he lived in hiding. But even there, he claims, people he once trusted turned against him. “My boys in Bissau called him… They betrayed me many times in Bissau,” he says on the tape, without identifying who he believed was orchestrating the attempts to hand him over to authorities.
He says he received warnings that the National Intelligence Agency was attempting to locate him. A man he identifies only as “Kebba”—a name widely believed within Jammeh’s security circles to refer to the former president himself—allegedly alerted him that intelligence operatives were looking for him in the months after Jammeh’s departure. The account underscores the persistent climate of fear and mistrust that the recording conveys.
Manjang also claims he stayed in communication with Mr. Jammeh during the former president’s exile. According to the recording, Jammeh urged him to relocate for his own safety—a suggestion he says he resisted. “I told him, ‘Sir, with due respect, I’m not going. I want them to come—then you’ll know how I’m surviving here,’” he recounts.
The audio further highlights tensions among senior Jammeh-era security figures. Manjang accuses Saul Badjie, the former State Guard commander, and Lamin Tamba, another close associate of the ex-president, of circulating false narratives about Mr. Jammeh’s intentions and actions. He says he pushed back, telling Mr. Tamba that “the allegations they are telling about Jammeh are lies,” insisting he had not communicated with the former president in the way they suggested.
In one of his most startling admissions, Manjang says he sold several patrol vehicles for roughly 8 million CFA francs each—a claim that, if corroborated, could add weight to long-standing allegations of corruption surrounding the Junglers and their operations.
He also asserts that Mr. Badjie acquired a luxury home in Dakar and relocated his wife there during the tense weeks following Mr. Jammeh’s refusal to leave office after his 2016 election defeat. The claim could not be independently verified.
Manjang’s detention has renewed public scrutiny of the Junglers, whose activities have been central to investigations into abuses committed during Mr. Jammeh’s 22-year rule. Authorities have not commented on the recording or on the circumstances surrounding his arrest.
As investigators examine Manjang’s assertions, the disclosures threaten to further expose the still-unsettled networks of loyalty, rivalry, and alleged wrongdoing that continue to shape the legacy of Jammeh’s security state — and its enduring influence on Gambian political life.
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